Director: Dante Lam

‘Beast Cops’ is a powerfully shot and highly entertaining movie that raises some important issues regarding today’s society, which really need to be addressed.

Not just one of the best thrillers to emerge from Hong Kong in a good few years, but also as good as many that have been released throughout Asia over the artistically-rich 21st century.

While the narrative and tone get a little muddled and the pace dips here and there, ‘Fire of Conscience’ is still a good tough-as-nails cop thriller with some brutal action.

‘Heat Team’ will undoubtedly baffle more than it will appease; the fractured style and severe lack of focus on what the film actually wants to achieve is difficult to forgive.

In comparison to what ‘Hit Team’ could have been with a slightly bigger budget and a better realised narrative, this is a disappointment.

Lam puts a tried-and-tested couple together on the screen, fills the narrative with sweet and humorous asides and ends on an emotionally stirring reconciliation scene.

Lam has made better films but, along with Benny Chan, he is at the forefront of Hong Kong action in terms of delivering large scale spectacle.

It’s big, it’s brash and in several sequences surprisingly gory but ‘Operation Red Sea’ is big screen, blockbusting action done well.

Some of the more eccentric moments do inspire a wry smile, but nothing to fully salvage the end product.

Certainly not subtle but if you can forgive its flaws and instead bask in its blockbuster credentials, then ‘The Battle At Lake Changjin’ delivers some spectacular war movie action.

The film veers between harrowing war bloodshed and comic book daredevil action and while it never shies away from the horrors of war the film is always entertaining: certainly, from an action standpoint.

If you like slick, glossy action flicks with lots of pretty boys posing, then ‘The Sniper’ is right up your street.